Storytelling Week 7: The Mighty Ones

The Mighty Ones

I, the mighty crocodile, was the ruler of the water and all surrounding marshland. There was also talk of a leopard that ruled the desert but I had never laid eyes on him. He did not threaten me nor did I pay much attention to ever finding out who he was. I went on day-by-day and continued to rule the water and marshland.

Image Source: Flickr

(The leopard waiting for his food)

Day after day I would see a man walking by my water looking very sad and confused until one day he finally approached me. “Mr. Crocodile,” he said, “if I bring you fruits and nuts each week, will you provide me with fish? I have so many wives to feed but have no way of providing." Mr. Crocodile responded, “Yes, that sounds like a wonderful option!”

I agreed to these terms because I loved fruits and nuts but I told him that he could be executing this deal only with me. It was important that he was only agreeing to the exchange with me because I did not like feeling taken advantage of. I felt only exchanging goods with me would help us build a sense of trust. So he agreed and we set a time to meet up the next day to perform the exchange. The following day came and I brought all the fish I had promised. They were in a basket dangling from my mouth. The man brought the promised fruits and nuts in a basket as well. This was looking to be beneficial for both of us. I was now able to enjoy fresh daily fruits and nuts and he could provide fresh fish for his many wives. I was in heaven and full of all the most delicious foods in the land!

Now little did I know but this very same man had been doing the exact same thing with the leopard. If I had known this information all along, then I would have put a stop to the deal immediately! I was feeling jealous because I wanted all of the fruits and nuts to myself! But this was information I would not find out until the very end.

Now back to the story:
so these exchanges continued for months. I felt that everything was fair and moving along smoothly. We were both extremely happy! As time went on, I began to grow more tired of the same old same old so I thought about what I could request now. We met up as usual and I asked for him to bring me a dog. Now I had never seen one before but I heard they were the most delicious meat in the world. I also heard from a fellow crocodile that he knew all about them. The man said he had none but knew of where one would be. He told me the location and the next day I set off to find it!

I wandered and wandered but never did find that dog he spoke of. I did find a leopard though. We examined each other from afar. Then I asked him what he was. He responded with "I'm a leopard." Then he asked me the same question, and I answered with "I'm a crocodile." At once it all began to make sense. We had been tricked and deceived. We found out that the man had been scamming us both! He agreed to each of us that he was only providing to us when in reality that was a lie! We decided to let him live but warned him to never come near our territories again. He thankfully accepted and promised to never cheat us again.

Author's Note: I am retelling the story The Leopard and the Crocodile. I decided to keep the story pretty close to the original this time around because I didn't want to add too many other details in to clutter the story. In the original the man sends the leopard and the crocodile to the same place and they each think that the other one is the mysterious dog. They end up fighting each other to the death and the man and whole town are there to watch. I elected to change the final outcome of the story. I decided to change it to the two animals not killing each other and instead befriending each other and casting the man out. I decided to change the ending because I felt that the original was very dark and twisted so I wanted to make the ending more pleasant. Another thing I changed was who was telling the story. I thought that telling it from the crocodile’s point of view could be beneficial! I mostly just told the direct story of the crocodile with not as much focus on the leopard. I found it to be important to get the right messages across from the crocodile’s point of view and I’m hoping this was done successfully!


Bibliography: Notes on the Folklore of the Fjort by Richard Edward Dennett (1898).  The Leopard and the Crocodile.

Essay Week 7: Assess the Unit

Assess the reading unit:

This week I decided to pick the reading unit Stories From Congo. Unfortunately due to this being a very busy week I was only able to read half of the overall unit. I decided to read the second half of the reading. I think that the overall way these stories were written and the language that was used was useful to the unit’s success. I really overall enjoyed the stories that I read, many of which included animals. This was a unit that was interesting to me because I have never read any pieces that are from the ‘Congo’. I think it is so important to read stories from other cultures in order to broaden our knowledge.

Source: Flickr

One of the most interesting stories I read in this unit was The Turtle and Man. The main messages that I took from this story was to always be true to your word. I think that when you say you will do something it is very important to always go through with that.

I think that a common theme that can be seen in this overall unit it that most of the stories portray some kind of moral message. It is very useful to preach these messages through the use of animals because they catch people’s attention.

I had a fun time retelling the story The Leopard and the Crocodile. I was able to retell it through a different voice. I did decide to keep most of the main elements the same but change the ending outcome.

I had a lot of fun with this unit and I think that I was able to read several stories that were different than anything I have ever read before! Because I enjoyed the second half of this unit so much I think I will go back and read the first half just for fun!

Reading Diary Week 7: Congo

Below I have presented half of my favorite stories from Storiesfrom Congo.

The first story that I read and thought was interesting was The Turtle and the Man. This story was about a turtle that teamed up with a man and they built one large trap they then decided to split it up in to two separate smaller traps. The turtle picked the better of the two and caught an antelope that night. Then tricked an ox in to helping him prepare it in exchange for sharing the meat, the ox helped but then the turtle said he would receive nothing. Out of anger the ox went to ruin the turtles trap but got killed by it instead. The along came a leopard and the same thing happened to him except he wasn’t really dead and ended up biting off the turtles head. I think that the moral of this story is to really stand by what you say and not go back on your words or promises.

The next story I thought was interesting was The Leopard and the Crocodile. This story was about how a man who had many wives was having a hard time feeding all of them so he asked that the leopard catch him meet and he would provide him and him only palm-nuts. Then the man made this same promise to the crocodile, the animals held up their end of the bargain and gave the man all the meet he could want. One day though the animals grew tired of all the palm-nuts and so they asked for dog meat, the man knew he could not provide. So he told each of them to go to the same place, they both showed up and had never seen a dog before so they each thought each other was a dog. They fought and fought and the man called the whole town to watch. The animals ended up killing each other and the town rejoiced.

The final story I enjoyed from the second half of the reading was The Three Brothers. This story was about a woman who had three sons but could not take care of them so she laid them in a grassy field and left. They ended up growing up strong and wise thanks to the river spirit that guided them. The river spirit also provided them with wives and they created a whole town. One day their father saw them from afar and ran home to their mother to tell her the news. The following day they set out to find them, the mother walked as long as she could before passing out. Then the boys took her in to their home and fed her and helped to get her better.